Ochowicz caps comeback

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Elli Ochowicz

Waukesha native makes U.S. Long Track Speedskating World Cup team

In just a few months, Waukesha native Elli Ochowicz has gone from retirement to winning a spot on the U.S. Long Track Speedskating World Cup team.

The three-time Winter Olympian was considered a medal contender until walking away from the sport in 2010. She completed her comeback with a third-place finish in the 1,000-meter race Saturday.

"It was always a goal," Ochowicz said Sunday. "But I knew it would be hard because there are a lot of really talented sprint girls in the U.S. right now, which is really nice to see.

"I was really happy to get that third spot. I would have liked the 500, too, but I'm really glad I'm in the thousand."

Ochowicz finished fifth in both 500s during the three-day U. S. Single Distance Long Track Speedskating Championships at the Pettit National Ice Center in West Allis as she failed to quality at that distance.

Race results were used to pick members for World Cup competition, which begins Nov. 2 in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

After two years in Los Angeles pursuing an acting career, Ochowicz decided to take one more shot at emulating her mother, Sheila Young Ochowicz, who won three medals at the 1976 Winter Olympics.

Elli Ochowicz said she was excited about the big step in her quest to medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

"It's rewarding and encouraging. It is a boost of confidence," said Ochowicz, who finished seventh Sunday in the 1,500.

When Ochowicz decided to return to skating, she went to Salt Lake City to train under U.S. coach Ryan Shimabukuro. He said she has made amazing progress after a two-year layoff from the grueling conditioning the sport requires.

"It's hard for an athlete of her caliber to come back," Shimabukuro said. "It's been a slow process, but she's been really diligent and mature about the process."

Heather Richardson of North Point, N.C., who completed a sweep of all five races Sunday by winning the 1,500 (1 minute, 55.26 seconds), and four-time medalist Shani Davis of Chicago are the U.S. team's medal favorites.

But Shimabukuro said several other skaters could contend including Ochowicz if she continues to improve.

"That's her goal but she's not in a position yet to say for sure," he said. "But we're working hard toward that."

Davis won the men's 1,500 in 1:44.94. Although Davis is expected to medal, he is not yet focusing on the Olympics.

"It's so far down the road," Davis said. "I know it's only a year-and-a-half away, but a lot can happen within that time."

However, most skaters are already thinking Olympics. One of them is Mitchell Whitmore of Waukesha, who won both 500-meter races.

Whitmore said his experience in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, his first, was so overwhelming that he had trouble focusing on his skating.

"I was so excited just to make the team," he said. "I really didn't think I had a shot to make it. It was just good to be there and check everything out.

"The next one, I'll have more confidence, and I will be able to compete instead of just show up."

Whitmore believes he can compete for a medal if he can keep getting faster.

For the last two years, Davis has trained mostly at the Pettit Center but has moved to Salt Lake City to be with the team.

The Pettit, however, remains an important part of the team's Olympic success.

No one knows that better than Shimabukuro, who moved to Waukesha from Hawaii in 1989 to race because the U.S. team was based here.

Shimabukuro remembers skating outside in frigid weather until the indoor Pettit opened in January 1993.

"This facility is great for speedskating," said Shimabukuro. "Winters get really brutal here. It allowed us to get more training time."

Besides Ochowicz and Whitmore, World Cup team members announced Sunday include Tucker Fredricks (Janesville), Sugar Todd (Milwaukee) and Maria Lamb (River Falls), a two-time Olympian.